FilmsThe GuardLike this

Films like The Guard.

The Guard (2011) reads as Neutral, kinetic, measured comedy / crime, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, intimate, measured. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

Thank You for Smoking (2005) (2005) poster
1. Thank You for Smoking2005

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Humpday (2009) (2009) poster
2. Humpday2009

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

24 Hour Party People (2002) poster
3. 24 Hour Party People2002

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) poster
4. The Meyerowitz Stories2017

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Mistress America (2015) poster
5. Mistress America2015

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Tales from the Golden Age (2009) poster
6. Tales from the Golden Age2009

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Cyrus (2010) (2010) poster
7. Cyrus2010

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Logan Lucky (2017) poster
8. Logan Lucky2017

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Shortcomings (2023) (2023) poster
9. Shortcomings2023

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) poster
10. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl2015

Keeps the heightened unreality and the unmistakable directorial hand — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

This Is 40 (2012) (2012) poster
11. This Is 402012

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Color Wheel (2011) poster
12. The Color Wheel2011

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the heightened unreality; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

These are The Guard’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

Find my film for tonight — 60 sec →